Painting
Collection

The following artists are presented as examples, whose works are part of our collection.

Kostas Zimeris
& his works

Kostas Zimeris was born in 1886 in Katichori, Pelion. He graduated from the Commercial School of Volos, where he took his first lessons from the well-known painter Io. Poulakas. In 1904 he left for America, where he worked in photographic workshops, collaborating with painters and photographers. There he had the opportunity to study at the Saint Louis School of Arts. He returned in 1912 and enlisted in the army during the Balkan Wars, then after the First World War, he remained in Athens, collaborating with the great photographers Boukas and Nelly’s. He then returned to Volos, now professionally engaged in photography and painting.
He participated in many exhibitions in Greece and abroad, such as in 1925 in Calais, France, in 1926 in Liverpool, England, while he received the gold prize at the international exhibition of Thessaloniki in 1932 and 1936.
Zimeris’ work was recognized and commented favorably in both the Athenian and French press and constitutes a reference for the city of Volos. K. Zimeris died at the age of 96 and on the occasion of the honorary exhibition organized in Volos in 1983, a year after his death, Ser. Fyntanidis, director of the newspaper “ELEFTHEROTYPIA”, wrote:
“The artistic sensitivity and the stubborn passion of a man forever preserved on photographic plates some of the lost beauties of a place, the old Volos, which the earthquake of 1957 and the carelessness of people wiped out”.
For K. Zimeris, see Fotis Vogiatzis, Thessalian Painting, Athens, 1980 and published “THESSALIA” 10-12-2006, etc.

Spyros Kokkinos
& his works

Spyros Kokkinos is one of the most well-known painters in Greece. He was born in 1898 in Smyrna, where he took his first painting lessons. In 1920 he came to Athens, where he studied at the School of Fine Arts with his teachers Iakovidis, Roilo and Vikatos. He was a member of the “group of four”, as Vassiliou, Polykandriotis, Rego and Kokkinos were called from the exhibitions they organized together. Their first exhibition was held in 1926 at the Municipal Theater of Athens and several group and individual exhibitions followed. His compositions with the tragic figures of the persecuted people of the Asia Minor catastrophe are unsurpassed examples inspired by this period, since Kokkinos himself is represented by these works that refer to the loss of his particular homeland. His landscapes convey the grace and coolness of the Thessalian land. The Municipality of Volos held a solo retrospective exhibition of his work in May 2003. His works are in the Art Gallery of the Municipality of Volos, the Municipality of Nea Smyrni and in private collections.
For Sp. Kokkino, see Fotis Vogiatzis, Thessalian Painting, Athens, 1980 and the newspaper “THESSALIA” 25-4-2003, 18-5-2003, etc.

Thanasis Fabas
& his works

Thanasis Fampas is considered one of the great Greek painters. He lives abroad, specifically in Bucharest, Romania.
He was born in 1922 in Lafkos, Magnesia, and came from an artistic family. His relatives included the icon painter Angelis Fampas and the woodcarver of iconostasis Giorgos Fampas. He continued the tradition himself, having achieved international recognition very early on.
His path in life was difficult, a worker in Volos and Edipsos and then war, occupation and hunger. In 1946, a year before the departure of K. Parthenis, he was lucky enough to enroll in the School of Fine Arts and be taught by the great teacher. He was also lucky enough to have D. Biskini and T. Mathiopoulos as teachers. The difficult conditions that followed, with his participation in the revolutionary struggle, forced him to leave Greece and settle in Romania. There, in 1950, he was lucky enough to be taught and specialize in monumental painting, and subsequently collaborated with the great Romanian painter Nicolae Grigorescu and Steriade and Labin.
Several exhibitions followed in Romania, Europe and America.
The paintings are dominated exclusively by the female figure, rendered either with archaic austerity or with Byzantine priestly style. His works are characterized by a lyrical mood, sensitive technical processing and refined color negotiation and are inspired by a peculiar expressionism, which becomes immediately recognizable.
His works can be found in the National Gallery of Romania, Greece, etc. Also in private collections in America, Switzerland, France, Germany, Greece, etc.
For Th. Fampas, see Dictionary of Artists, ed. MELISSA, vol. 4, ed. 2000, Fotis Vogiatzi, Thessalian Painting, Athens, 1980, etc.